Terima Kasih, Dua Ribu Enam Belas

Each of 2013, 2014, and 2015,

Served different themes for me.

The combination of those three was all centered in traveling and my ambition to befriend the world, and my ultimate trip to Japan by the end of last year wrapped it up re~al good.

It was too big, and emotionally slash financially draining. So I promised myself that for the following year, 2016, I’d be staying still and just focusing on the other aspects of my life. The more realistic and essential aspects of my life.

And that’s why for 2016,

I assigned the 366 days as

“The Year of Settling Down”

This is the face of somebody who's ready to settle down. Taken in Bali, 00:02AM

The year of building my career. The year of figuring out what to really do with my life. The year of no big trips, no short-term jobs, no soon-resigning plans. No.

It's my year to start acting as most professionals do, daily.

All began by my first overseas-remote job with the company I did my internship with in Japan, as well as working on two more books I released this year, followed by a series of interviews I walked into –after all, work-from-home type of job won’t be enough right?– which led me to end up in Ogilvy. Yes, an advertising agency. I’m back in this industry HAHA. And this one is a big one not just locally, but worldwide. So no, I’m not planning to go out soon. I’m settling down.

Very "settling down" that even my traveling life revolved only around two of my favorite cities. However it was okay, because

It’s also my year to travel in a calmer sense as locals do, daily.

Opened the year in Bali (again), laying low in Nusa Lembongan and Ceningan, then returned to the island two months later for only relaxing at a good hotel and eating out here and there. Then when it came to my annual trip, I only flew to Singapore. Nothing big like the previous three, only Singapore, and all I did were just visiting an island, cycling with my earphones on, reading a book by the ocean, interacting with locals, eating out here and there. Then I went back to Bali again during Ramadan, which was, so not a trip regular tourists would want to do. But I committed to have a local-sensed type of journey so yea, there I was in Bali, fasting, and no swimming which was, kinda odd for a so-called Bali trip eh? Finally three months ago I was back in Singapore. For nothing but F1, and its awesome concert. A trip many of my friends and relatives responded with “Are you serious? Just F1 and then home?”. Well, “No”, I answered. “Because I also met some friends, even a highschool friend, and of course I went eating out here and there too,” so yea, I’m settling down with this habit.

So settling down that now, here I am, typing the last paragraphs of 2016's last post in Singapore (again), as I want this year to end in this dear city. Country. City—oh, whatever.

Anyways. Yea.

I want my career to be like exactly like what I'm doing. Regular ones where I need to commute like cool businessman, work on a desk like I’m a busy office worker. And writing ones too, where I bring my notepads everywhere I go, seen walking around public places carrying my laptop, or sitting on the corner of a hip coffee place somewhere. I wanted to settle down this way, and I did it this year.

And I want Bali and Singapore to be a part of my settling down plan too. Traveling back and forth to both cities for thrice each, waking up on the first day of 2016 in one, and counting down the last seconds of 2016 in another, well, it just showed how "I want them to be a part of my plan too" eh? I've always wanted to settle down with these cities, and it seems like I did.

But the best part of 2016 is

How these two, career and traveling,

Both went side by side so well all year long.

A type settling down I been dying to have.

And this, is the face of somebody whose "Settling Down" plan worked
the way he wanted it to be. Taken in Singapore, 00:25AM

And pretty soon, when I could add a little more of traveling, and less of work, I'll find every year me saying to myself—just like this year I'll say:

"Thank you, 2016.

Let's restart, shall we?"

It's Time

Some people still asked me about, why, on earth, out of the blue, I suddenly flew to Singapore to watch F1 live. Then when I answered "I seriously am now a fan of F1! Why would I spend so much to watch something I half like??", they'd give me a hint like, they didn't buy it.

Well here's the deal.

Several months ago, I was on the beginning stage of liking this sport. As a spectator, because no, I have no intention of being a racer -I mostly don't even have intention to drive my own car. When I knew that there'd be a Grand Prix in Singapore, I impulsively bought a flight because, well, it's just Singapore.

At first I didn't really have plan to buy the actual F1 ticket because as what I saw on TV, on those European circuits, people can actually watch the race on top of hills or by peeping through the circuit fences. So I said to myself, well, I should also be able to do this in Singapore, no? So I guess not buying the ticket seems fine. The plan was firm, until finally someone told me that there’s no way I could do that in Marina Bay STREET Circuit. Street. So no hills, no free peepholes, and again, it’s Singapore. So no free riders allowed.

Damn, no? And I knew the cheapest tickets were so off my budget. So, damn, yes? Is it my time to back out? I supposed to myself several days before my departure. Or should I go anyway, and only hear the voice of the engines from afar?

Well, God has other plans for me.

And that plan is called

IMAGINE DRAGONS

Pic's from here.

Yes.

They were there as a part of the show. As Singapore Grand Prix's guest star of this year, along with this new artist Halsey. I couldn't believe my eyes at that time. And just when I recalled my feeling, I'm pretty sure once I read their names, on the table of artists that will be performing on the RACE DAY -please note it, Race Day, not practice or quali, I subconsciously told myself that okay, Vick, you're so going to buy it.

And so I bought it.

And it became one of those memorable random shit I'm proud I did.

Because Imagine Dragons had always been a gig I was dying to go to. Along with Bastille, which apparently became the guest star of the qualification the day before -I swear my eyes almost popped out when I saw both names on the webpage, until I finally realized that they performed on different days. But guess what, on the night before the race, when I innocently visited Marina Bay Sands and decided to chill by the river for a moment, apparently Bastille was playing and the sound could clearly be heard from afar! And I bumped into "Flaws" which is my favorite song! I SWEAR I WAS THE LUCKIEST GUY IN THE WORLD OF MUSIC FANBOYING! AND I SWEAR THIS IS THE LONGEST SIDE SENTENCE I'VE EVER WRITTEN IN THIS BLOG. And attending a concert -well technically, TWO concerts- abroad had always been a cool stuff I was dying to brag about. Plus to be able to have it altogether with an F1 race in which I started to have this weird obsession within, damn, this was a major jackpot to me!

And Halsey turned out to be a thing. I heard some of her songs before, and browsed some more of her hits before my flight, and all of them were performed! DAMN! She instantly became a dear to me.

But of course the highlight was the main reason behind the ticket purchase. Imagine Dragons was epic. Their performances, their songs, their crowd –my first foreign crowd!– their energy, their STAGE ACT, the unique voices and screams Dan Reynolds made, the drum beats that almost blew my eardrums, the fire, the lighting, I swear every time they finished a song, I threw my usual curses and bad words in Indonesian, which made me a bit worried at first because some words were just too harsh for people to hear –plus I was there alone, with no friends so is it not weird to be excited and all swearing by yourself!?– but then, I remembered that it’s not home so people won’t know what I was saying so, I kept on swearing like an idiot.

Still can't believe this view. Never thought watching a concert in the
middle of a business district would serve this spectacular scene.

Obviously the fire thing were the Singaporean's doing, but it really matched the performance!

For that kind of performance, I'm willing to tribute more than just a round of applause.
Some appreciative cartwheels would do.

And this one's Halsey with Singapore's city sunset. Best scenery I ever seen in this country.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!

Pardon the language but to hell with that—I WAS AND STILL AM FUCKING EXCITED!!!

I swear I never had such great great deal in my life before. First double concert. First gig out of Jakarta. First expensive ticket I don't mind wasting because it was all worth every rupiah I spent—UNIVERSE WAS WITH ME ALL ALONG!

Well for this time, to hell with spending.

I've worked hard for the past six-or-so months.

I've been waiting for this particular band to come.

Obviously,

It's time

The Race I Can't Get Enough

It's been a while since the last time I posted about F1.

It's even been a while since the last time I posted anything here.

Am I losing interest in the series?

Hell. No.

I've just been toning it down a little so I don't spill my blog way too much -I do it on my Twitter account already so I guess that'd be enough. If you ask whether I am still watching the tournament or not, the answer is totally yes.

I was there by Spa during the Belgian Grand Prix. Of course I wouldn't want to miss that one: the race after one month of summer break which obviously, was anticipated. The race turned out to be a major comeback show with lots of twists including uncommon lineup -Vettel and Raikkonen almost on the front, Hamilton on the far back, Sainz's tyre blast, Ferrari clash, and on top of all, of course, the RED FLAG by Magnussen's huge crash, topped with Hamilton's podium despite his start from P21.

I was also there by Monza which race was, fine. A little bit boring though, compared to the preceding GP which served hell of a drama. But I saw Vettel again on podium so it was something refreshing especially because, of course, one of the Ferrari boys had to win in Italy.

Not to mention last week too—I was there in Singapore. Only this time, I'm saying it literally. As I actually flew there to my neighbor, wore my amateur F1-fan spirit on, hailed down to Marina Bay to get the ticket I bought online for

Singapore Grand Prix 2016

Pic's from here.

Fuck.

It was so spontaneous. I mean, most people would think, if I tell them that I watch the Grand Prix, that I had planned it way in advance, bought the ticket since like, last year, and prepared my ass off to come to Marina Bay. Turns out, no.

You knew how my interest towards F1 started. Rio Haryanto. Then I began to fall in love with the whole performance, despite the fact that Rio doesn't shine at all. But still, when I knew that they'd be racing in Singapore, I bought the flight despite all the works and bureaucracy I should be facing at the office, and despite the fact that Rio eventually stopped participating F1. And one more thing that was actually crazy was that I hadn't even bought the F1 ticket yet until a week prior the race, so yes, one word for all of this: fvcking spontaneous -well, two words?

Next thing I know, last week I was in front of Marina Bay Street Circuit already. Damn, the moment of truth. Even until that second—no. Even until this very exact second, I still can't believe that I actually did watch the race. But there I was, in front of Gate 3, stepping inside the edge of the road with Red Bull cap I just bought on my head, living the race air as if I'm one of those avid fans.

And speaking about the race, it went exactly as I imagined. Tough, tight, crazy stuff happened even just a second after the race started -that Hulkenberg crash was really something!- then the Kvyat v Verstappen duel oh, it made the mid-race much more alive the cameras couldn't even take their lenses off of those two. But of course the main drama happened on the leads, and guess what, it got more and more intense reaching the end of the race!

Oh yes, it was my idol Daniel Ricciardo, who was this close to win Singapore GP. He stayed at P2 the whole race, with Nico Rosberg ahead of him. Starting from lap 55 of 61, Rosberg, who hadn't switched tires, started to lose his pace and the 22 seconds gap between him and my brother -so Mr Ricciardo, if you ever EVER read this blog post, yes, I want me to be your brother- kept decreasing and decreasing. It was so fvcking intense, as it was only 2 seconds gap between them, but that damn Rosberg was really good that he could manage leading til the checkered flag waved. If only there was one more lap, Daniel could win. But hey, 2nd place's great! And the best stuff was, he gave a very very entertaining fight -you don't want to hear the story of me screaming and screeching in excitement during the last 10 laps of the game.

Photo belongs to Red Bull Racing's Twitter account.

Crazy.

And you know what made it crazier?
That this time I watched it all live.

Well it's not that I could get a clear vision of each cars and their maneuvers and what they did along the 61 laps, lol, of course not, I don't have that godly skill. I still got to see the whole race in one big screen, as if I was at home watching it with my TV.

But then again, I was there, just several yards away from those people I could only just see on screen this last 6 months. I was there among those people you could see from your TV during the GP. I was actually hearing the exact engine sound, witnessing the black-emerald colors of the Mercedes cars, blue-red-yellow sparks of the Red Bulls, raging vermilion figure of the Ferraris—I heard, and saw them all! Flashing before my very own ears and eyes.

And it's not just about the actual race itself that I still can't stop replaying from that night. It's the atmosphere too. Seeing all those F1 enthusiasts, from the hardcores to amateur ones like me, to those little rascals who only came for the concerts, sitting by the field like a picnic court, gathering with all these people to cheer and watch the race together, walking myself to and fro throughout the circuit to find spots that could get me closer to the cars, and those wonderful fireworks lit when Rosberg hit the finish line... Damn. Nothing failed me!

Even far from the place, like on my way from my hostel in Bugis to the venue in City Hall, the F1 mood was everywhere in the air! With people walking down to the circuit already wearing their lanyards, with all the trinkets of F1 from flags, banners, posters, inside the MRT, by the malls—even when I returned home, I still got to relive the race stuff because apparently my English roommate was also there to catch the GP and we kept talking and talking and bragging about the race... DAMN!

Whatever I did, it was all about F1. 

I don't know about those guys who's been watching Formula One their whole life. But I, clearly, I can't get over it. I can't get over Singapore GP and all its fantastic obscurity just yet. And I'm sure I won't be over it any time soon.

Because well,

For an amateur fan, it was

A memorable one

Hippy Holiday

March is way past my annual trip schedule.

By this time three years ago, it was two months after my first solo trip ever—to Malaysia and Thailand. Two years ago, I had my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia already finished for about six weeks. And today last year, I had even finished my book script after I visited Hong Kong and Macau. For the last three years, my annual trip has always been done somewhere around end of January to the beginning of February, as for this year, well, all I did was just working and escaping for a while to Bali.

I don't want to break my habit.

So I planned a simple trip to

It wasn't big, like what I usually did for my annual trip -I'm kind of financially overwhelmed too anyway, after Japan. And unlike any other annual trip of mine, Singapore is not someplace I've never been to. I've been there several times. With family, with friends. But yeah you might know why I finally ended up choosing Singapore.

Because I want it to be done solo.

Booked everything myself, flew alone, slept at the airport -I've finally crossed Changi off of my list!- and stayed at the dorm, talked with random people, made new friends, got lost, did all the things I wanted, man, it doesn't really have to be Singapore, honestly. Whenever I travel, if I just do it my way, and no one is there to interfere, I'll have the best time of my life.

Plus this was my visit to Singapore for the umpteenth time -lol no I'm just making that big, it was only like my sixth time- so I've roughly seen most of the tourist spots. And thanks to that, I had all the four days and three nights of my visit last week, in a complete serenity and non-rush sense. And I got to visit more of the 'hipster' places.

Staying around Chinatown instead of Orchard or Bugis,

Crossing the water to some other island instead of Sentosa.

I really enjoyed every second of it. People on my feed would probably think "okay Vick, it's only Singapore. Don't make a big deal out of it." but I don't care. I cycled through the real jungle of Singapore, while all you can do is just walk around in the fake-jungle-you-call-concrete-jungle-it's-not-even-a-real-jungle and shop.

I really enjoyed every bit of it, and guess what, the timing is just right. It was a long weekend, and I was there far before Friday, and I returned on Saturday just before everybody returned on Sunday -which I'm pretty sure would create a messy scene of Indonesians everywhere in the airport. I dodged all the bullets!

Although actually, it's not the right timing I was talking about.

It's more because at the end of the trip,

Just in one hour, after my arrival in Jakarta,

Is my big day

So yeah, I planned it really well.

Because returning from the Hippy Holiday,

I got a "Happy Birthday"

Quick

So last weekend, Saturday to Sunday, I went to Singapore. Yes, it was only two days. My mom was wondering, my dad thought it was a waste, my brothers said that, yea, in summary, they criticized me.

But somehow, traveling for only two days was really effective. I mean, the time limit you have will force you to spend every second wisely. You won't even think about slacking off or just lying around at your hotel rooms. It's like, "Move, move! Chop, chop! Sauté, sauté!" all trip long.

Then I guess I'll make this post quick as well.

Day One: Universal Studios Singapore

First of all, before I entered the gate of the studio, I warned myself that I'd turn like a freak geek when it turns to cartoon characters. Then yea, I did. Seeing Woodpecker, I freaked. Getting saved by animated Bumblebee, I thanked. Interacting with Donkey, posing with Gloria, having myself scared by the mummies... Gotta say, I acted like a fool there.

But the main spotlight was awarded to the Sesame Street. Well no, it's not because of the ride -the ride was amusing tho, but that wasn't it- it was more because of the souvenirs shop. You know what turned me on? The hand puppets. They're crazy. They have it all. From Cookie Monster to Big Bird, they do have it all.

Day Two: Symmetry

Before shopping for mom's sake, my friends and I had a brunch at this cool restaurant named Symmetry. It's placed on Jalan Kubor, which, literally, there are graveyards there. One of my friends had this idea that name "Symmetry" is another way to say "Cemetery". At first I thought it was just a make-up fact, but when I explored that they put Jack and Sally dolls in front of the restaurant, I now believed what she believed.

Now about the food, it was all brunch-time meals. I ordered Eggs Benedict which was a portion of two roasted bread, with poached eggs and bacon--well, beef bacon on top of that, served with hash brown and salad with olive oil. And seriously, that was the best brunch and, the best yolk I've ever had. I never liked yolk, anyway.

Done.

Overall, I liked every single detail of my trip.

But these two made that even cooler.

Now quick, get back to reality.

Close your blog, forget about your wonderful journey,

Go find your boss and ask for something important to do.

You do realize that you're typing this from your office desktop,

Right, boy? :)

Another Way Out For Our Nation

Today on TV. I oversaw something interesting. Something catchy. Something about Indonesia. And its attempt to get developed.

You ever heard some other nations' tourism tagline?

The sight of Singapore is from here, India's scenery is from here, and Malaysia's from here.

Those are sticking in minds, don't you think? They use a few words, with unusual selection and combination, and brought with an ear-friendly jingle. What a smokin' good strategy.

And yeah, I guess our nation's trying to do the same.

Now let's get ourselves used to announce

"Remarkable Indonesia"

Yes. Remembering Asian's recent potential in, anything, the whole globe now aims their shits on us. And our Indonesia's joined the track.

But different from those three, Indonesia's approach in this "Remarkable Indonesia" is not tourism. More to economical business or something, nah I don't understand. I personally dislike it. For me, tourism is far beyond selling. At the end we earn income, yes, but at least we also sell our value.

And word 'remarkable', umm... It's strong. It's different. But for me -again- it's just not us Indonesian. Each nation is remarkable. Singapore is remarkably unique. Malaysia is remarkably Asia-ish. India is remarkably... Well, India's 'incredible' case is somehow similar to 'remarkable', but at least the words are both started with letter 'I' and that's the essence.

Haha I'm now acting like a pro. Seriously, don't take it personally. I'm just stating my opinion about 'remarkable'. But I'm sure that the word selection must have been done by experts and, we just have to leave it to them and their strategy then.

But speaking of strategy...

I don't know whether I, am the one who's closed somehow I never even heard anything about this campaign, OR the campaign itself is not that significant. But to be honest, this was the first time I catch the ad. The promotion strategy's still low, I guess.

Alright, alright, I'm doing it again--judging and criticizing. I'm stopping now and let's see the bright side: Indonesia's eyes has finally been opened. It's time to go down the battle. Join the war, and try to win something.

http://syaifulfatah.staff.umy.ac.id/about/

Let's see if we can get something good from this.

So basically, whatever way you wish, government, whatever.

Just make sure to get us out of the current misery

New Life: The Beginning

So gone are the final exam!! Gosh I'm so psyched in welcoming the long long holiday. I got this plan for an intern in my dad's office next week, which actually I'm not officially recruited yet. So yes, if I'm accepted, this gon' be a simulation of my future.

Now as the opening of this glorious moment, also as the celebration of the end of that hectic term back then, I started all these with an unforgettable trip. A friend of mine called me by Tuesday last week, telling me that on Saturday there will be a tremendously cheap flight to

S I N G A P O R E

Will I ever reject that? Of course not! The next thing I know, by Wednesday I said yes already and so two friends and I, Dicky and Nana and I, flew to the island of lion for three days and two nights.

And since this was such a spontaneous trip, I committed some new things I've never done before.

New Experience: Dealing With Airports

This is a total brand new thing to do. I've been to Singapore times but all of the things are settled by my dad. Now that I went there by myself... I did the check in, the immigration, the boarding all by myself.

New Places: Spots Untouched by My Fam

Chinatown, never knew it was that oriental. Marina Bay Sands, never knew it was that exclusive. Holland Village, never knew it was that cozy. Arab Street, never knew it was so Pasar Baru. Beach Rd, Suntec City and Bugis Rd, never knew it was... there. Singapore's not just about shopping -tho got to admit, I went there because of the great sale too.

New Dishes: Usual Malay Meals That're Unusual to Me

Seafood laksa, nasi briyani, beef noodle and nasi lemak. I picked the best, I guess. And the beef noodle, I know it's just ordinary. But I don't know, I felt like that's the best beef noodle I've ever tasted. The cook was Chinese so I supposed that umm, maybe I also tasted a liiiiittle bit of pork. Haha just a guess.

New Way to Love Starbucks: Soy Strawberry Frappuccino

http://www.flickr.com/photos/schtumple/5038670366/ 

I am not a big fan of coffee, I said. So when I came to Starbucks, it's always either chocolate or green tea. But this drink, man, I'm into it. The frappuccino can barely be tasted. And enjoyed it while chit-chatting with my half Singaporean friend, made this beverage officially Singaporish. Can't wait for them showing up in Indonesia.

New Me: It Boy

You noticed my G+ headline? Yea besides my regular me, I also have a wild me whom I met him last year in Bali. Now on this trip, I explored a brand new side of me. He's more like an attention seeker. Thirsty of being looked at. And judgmental. Ahh I miss him already.

New... Lies

Lies will no longer be called lies if they're told. So I left 'em back in Singapore ;)

In summary, I love cheap flights... It got me doing things I never thought I would ever done. Ugh I can't wait for my solo trip to KL and Bangkok on January. And after this, I'll be regularly checking all low-fare airlines like, every time.

I'm gonna get back to you, Singapore.

And this trip, is sooo not a closure.

In fact, it's just a start

The Most Bestest New Year Ever!

Halo. Barusan gue iseng buka Blogger. Ngeliat blog orang-orang, tiba-tiba jari jemari gue memaksa untuk mulai mengetik lagi. Apa daya, gue menyerah. Lagian udah lama gak ngepost, ya gapapa dong. Apalagi si Iedo dengan panjang lebarnya bercerita tentang Thailand. Sooo, now I'm gonna tell you guys my super unforgettable experience in Singapore last holiday!

-Where should I begin? Oh, dari hari pertama tentunya-

December 30, we went to CKG so early -I've always loved the smell of that airport- because we have to deal with some documents. trus nongkrong dulu di tempat makan apa gitu gue lupa sampe jam 8-an kalo gak salah. Abis itu naik pesawat and fly to the land of lion. Sampe di Changi, langsung disambut sama orang travelnya. Trus naik bus ke hotel. Furama River Front Hotel, di Havelock Rd. gak sebagus hotel-hotel yang di Orchard sih, tapi okelah. Trus naikin barang-barang bentar, baru pergi lagi. Oh iya! kalo si Iedo cuma ngasih 22 bath ke bellboy nya, gue malah GAK NGASIH SAMA SEKALI haha. Abis kan kita berlima dibagi dua kamarnya, gue sama adek-adek gue. Bokap sama nyokap. Trus kopernya malah dianterin ke kamar gue. ya gue kan belum dikasih dollar sekoinpun, jadi ya sudah memang sedang apes dia.

Well, the first day was fully spent on the Orchard Rd. Walopun disitu-situ doang, kita sama sekali gak bosen. Soalnya seru sih ngeliatin orang-orang keluyuran. Mana suasana natal masih ada lagi kan. Wuih.

-Hari kedua-

Nah, baru nih kami sekeluarga berkelana keliling Singapur. Abis sarapan di hotel, kami MRTan. Berhenti di Harbour Front buat ke Sentosa Island naik monorail. Nyampe-nyampe langsung naik luge & skyride. That was exciting karena di Jakarta kagak ada. Abis itu mejeng bentar di pantai, trus lanjutin keliling-keliling Sentosa. Abis itu minum bentar di deket terminal sambil nyusun rencana mau kemane sambil nunggu taun baruan. Bosen kan tuh, akhirnya kita putusin buat ke Jurong datengin The Snow City! Gile dah tuh tempat bener-bener nyiksa. Dingin jaya ampun dah. Kuping gue ampe mati rasa. Mana disentil pula ama adek gue yang ramah dan penyayang itu. Serasa mau robek tuh kuping. Tapi seru lah pokoknya. ngeliat salju beneran trus merosot dari puncak bukit pake ban hehe.

Sorenya kita balik ke Orchard dan lagi-lagi kita nongkrong disono ampe malem, mau nunggu taun baruan ceritanya. Skip skip skip akhirnya waktu yang ditunggu-tunggu pun tiba. Gue udah penasaran aja tuh gimana sih taun baruannya orang Singapur. Ternyata eh ternyata, setelah countdown kagak ada kembang api sama sekali. Sebagai gantinya, orang-orang yang ada di jalanan malah semprot-semprotan busa gitu. Seru gila. gue sama adek-adek gue ya diem-diem aja kagak ikutan lah wong kite gak ngerti ye gak? Tapi ngeliatin orang-orang Cina sama India semprot-semprotan gitu udah berkesan kok bener. Agak nyesel sih, tau gitu gue juga beli tuh semprot-semprotan buat main-main bareng orang Cina hahaha.

-Hari ketiga-

Gue demen banget sama orang-orang Singapur. Ramah-ramah beneeeer. Di jalan ada berapa kali gitu gue sekeluarga diselamatin taun baru. Semalem juga pas naik taksi balik ke hotel, baru aja gue duduk trus sopirnya langsung "happy new year". Kenal aja kagak, tapi baik banget yak.

Nah hari ketiga kita jalan-jalan lagi. Kali ini ke Marina Bay. Agak terik tuh, tapi karena mau naik Singapore Flyer jadi ya ndak apa. Nah yang satu ini juga oke punya. Macem bianglala Dufan gitu tapi lebih gede. Trus satu gerbong bisa ngangkut sepuluh orangan. Pas itu gw cuma naik bareng adek-adek gue. Trus ada bule sekeluarga, orang Melayu sepasang, orang India sepasang. Yang India cowok dua-duanya hahaha. Nah, dari atas kita bisa ngeliat laut plus kapal-kapalnya. Di sudut yang lain ada gedung-gedung. Pokoke mantep men. Sayang, pas itu ada hotel yang masih belum jadi gitu. Jadi pemandangannya agak cacat. Gapapa lah.

Abis itu kita ke Merlion. Pas disini teriknya udah bener-bener gahar men. Ampun dah. Mana bokap hobi bener kan moto-motoin kite. Tapi gak apa, malemnya bokap ngajak makan seafood di Clarke Quay. Kata orang travel sih ni tempat emang oke, tapi banyak 'ayam'nya haha. Anyway, kepiting lada hitamnya super yahud.

-Hari keempat-

Nyak babe ke Mustafa buat beli cokelat sama oleh-oleh. Gue dan adek-adek males ikut, jadilah kita jalan bertigaan ke Vivo City. Jauh loh itu, deket Sentosa. Tapi emang adek-adek gue mau jalan jauh-jauh yaa mengapa tidak? Malemnya semua pada mau ke Orchard buat beli baju. Tapi bokap mau balik ke Mustafa karena pengen beli cokelat lagi. Gue ngikut bokap deh. Abis beli cokelat, gue pisah ama bokap. Idiih, ini dia yang gue tunggu-tunggu dari hari pertama: jalan-jalan sendirian. Gue jalan sendirian ke Raffles Place trus ngeliatin sungai. Waduh, kapan lagi kan gue berkelana di negara orang sendirian?

-Hari termalesin-

Hari kelima, cuma satu temanya. Bete. Gila, males banget gue kalo udah nginget hari itu bakalan balik ke Jakarta. Sudahlah. Anggap saja cerita ini sudah selesai.

Singapur oh Singapur. Bingung deh gue kenapa doi bisa senyaman dan sebersih itu. Murah senyum semua lagi orang-orangnya. Rencananya sih gue bakal balik kesana pas malem taun baruan lagi. Tau dah kapan. Pokoknya nabung sendiri biar tambah seru dan kerasa perjuangannya. Lagian, ada satu obsesi yang pengen gue penuhin; ikutan main semprot-semprotan sama orang-orang Singapur. Ihiyy, sape mau ikut?